Woodwind tenon ring and method

ABSTRACT

An improved tenon ring and method for use in clarinets and other woodwind instruments. A metallic tenon ring is provided with an interior spring band having chordal sections inward of the tenon ring and adapted to snap into an exterior ring milled in the adjacent clarinet section to retain the tenon ring in position.

United States Patent 1 Runde [45] July 31, 1973 WOODWIND TENON RING AND METHOD [75] inventor: Robert J. Runde, Kenosha, Wis.

[73] Assignee: G. LeBlanc Corporation, Kenosha,

- Wis. A

[22] Filed: Aug. 2, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 277,405

52 U.S.Cl. 84/380,16/109 s11 lnt.Cl. ..o1ou 7/00 [58] Field oiSearch 84/380-385; 16/108-109 [56] References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,061,928 ll/i936 Albrecht...;.. 84/3807:

9/1943 Mueller 84/382 1/1972 Nagao 84/380 Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Lawrence R. Franklin Attorney-Roy l-i. Olson et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT An improved tenon ring and method for use in clarinets and other woodwind instruments. A metallic tenon ring is provided with an interior spring band having chordal ,sections inward of the tenon ring and adapted to snap into an exterior ring milled in the adjacent clarinet section to retain the tenon ring in position.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTED JUL31 ma SHEET 1 OF 2 2 II l ll I F 1 6. 2 I? lllll l 1 8 0 8 Z 3 0 2 2m 2 z w z e l Fla;

PATENIEU JUL3 I ma h sum 2 or z WOODWIND TENON RING AND METHOD BACKGROUND OF INVENTION For a great many years clarinets have been made of wood, generally granadillo wood. Student grade clarinets generally are made of plastic. Clarinets usually are made in several sections and slip together in overlapping portions for use. Such overlapping sections may have considerable stress and strain applied on occasion, and therefore tend to fracture. Furthermore, in the case of wood body clarinets, aging and alternate wetting and drying out of the wood tends to produce cracking at the edges. To avoid breakage or cracking of clarinet body sections at the ends thereof, it has for many years been common practice to apply tenon rings, i.e., metallic bands which are press fitted, shrink fitted, or adhesively secured to underlying sections of the clarinet. The metal provides sufficient reinforcement to prevent cracking, splitting, and breakage.

Unfortunately, the fitting of tenon rings'in accor-' dance with prio'rart practices has been quite time consuming, thereby increasingthe cost of manufacture of clarinets and the like, and inevitably increasing the cost to the purchaser.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention a tenon ring is provided with an interior annular groove. A compl- DESCRIPTION THE DRAWINGS The invention will best be understood with reference to the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a top view of a clarinet constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, exploded view showing assembly of a pair of adjacent clarinet body sections;

FIG. 3 is a view in longitudinal section corresponding to FIG. 2 with'the parts assembled;

FIG. 4 is an end view, partly in section, showing a tenon ring constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the retaining spring;

FIG. 6 is an end view of the tenon ring having the spring assembled therewith;

FIG. 7 is an exploded, fragmentary side view showing a special tool as used for assembling the tenon ring on the clarinet; e

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side view similar to FIG. 7 after the-tenon ring has been'moved onto the clarinet; and

' FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view, partly in longitudinal section, showing our improved tenon ring as applied to the bell of the clarinet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Turning first to FIG. 1, there will be seen a clarinet 10 which is entirely conventional in appearance, including an upper bodysection l2 and a lower bodysection 14, having the usual openings, keys, key closure members, etc. thereon. The upper and lower sections are-generally telescopically connected, and a bell 16 is telescopically, detachably mounted at the lower end of the lower bodysect'ion l4. At-the top of the upper body section 1-2 there is telescopically detachably mounted a barrel l8, and a mouthpiece 20 is detachably mounted at the top of the barrel.

Tenon rings 22 are provided at. the exterior ends of the various foregoing sections, and a tenon ring 24 also may be placed about the periphery of the bell 16. All of the tenon rings are or. metal construction, and may be of any suitable metal in accordance withthe quality of the instrument, nickel silver beingone suitable. example.

With reference to FIG. 2, two telescopically associatedparts are shown, and by way of illustrative example, this may comprise the barrel l8 and the upper body section or joint 12. As will be seen, and as is well knownto those skilled in the art, both the barrel. and the body sections are provided with internal longitudinal, aligned bores 26. The lower end of the barrel 18 is provided with an extension or projection 28 of reduced diameter having. a band .of cork 30 adhesively secured in an annular recess thereon. The projection 28 extends into a counterbore 32 in'the upper end of the upper body joint 12, and due to the cork band 30 forms a tight fit therewith. As will be recognized, any bending moment between the barrel and the upper body joint would tend to split the upper body joint at the upper end, and this is positively precluded by the tenon rings 22. The tenon ring may be plainin exteriorconfiguration, or may be somewhat ornamental as shown.

The tenon ring forming the subject of the. present invention will be. seen with reference to FIG. 4 wherein the tenon ring 22 will be seen to be similar to conventional tenon rings, except for the provision of an internal annular or circumferential groove 34. As will be seen with reference to FIG. 3 the sides of the groove are tapered so that the groove is of greater axially extent at the open, outer edgethereof, than at the depth thereof.

Attention now should be directed to FIG. 5 wherein there will be seen a spring retaining clip 38. The retain-. ing clip is generally in the form of apolygon, and in the specific example is substantially hexagonal, having outwardly projecting shoulders or corners 40 interconnected by chordal sections 42. The spring retaining clip is discontinuous, havingconfronting end arms 44 with inwardly turned tips 46 thereon. The spring retaining clip isdimensioned and configured so that the corners 40 thereof are received in the internal annular groove 34 (See FIG. 6) with the chordal portions 42 and the inwardly directed tips 46 extending inwardly of the inner circumference of the tenon ring 22.

Theupper end of the upper body joint 12 (by way'of example) is providedwith a portion 48 (FIGS. 3and 7) for receipt of the tenon ring 22. The reduceddiameter portion 48 isprovided withan external annular or circumferential groove 50, and the side walls of this groove diverge outwardly at 52. When the tenon ring. is assembled over the projecting section 52 of reduced diameter the chordal portions 42 and the end portions 46 thereof snap into the groove stl permanently to hold the tenon ring on the clarinet upper body joint, or on any other appropriate portion of the clarinet.

The spring retaining clip 38 may be of any suitable spring metal, such as spring steel, although other materials, such as phosphor bronze or beryllium copper have advantages in corrosion resistance. The clip is under tensional or deforming forces in the installed position of the tenon ring, and particularly wedges into the diverging grooves confronting one another in the tenon ring and on the clarinet body portion. Accordingly, the ring will never loosen due to shrinkage of wood from humidity changes. The ring cannot rotate because the ends of the retaining clip tend to bite into the wood of the clarinet and also due to the wedging of the clip in the tapered grooves. Even if the wood should shrink quite considerably, the ring will remain tight, and will remain in proper position due to the spring characteristics of the clip and the tapered configuration of the groove.

As will be seen in FIG. 9, a tenon ring 24 similar to the tenon rings 22 is secured onto the outer periphery of the bell 16 in the same manner, by a spring retention clip 38 fitting in complimentary grooves in the tenon ring and in the bell. The only substantial difference is in the exterior configuration of the tenon ring which is shaped to compliment the bell.

Reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 will facilitate understanding of the assembly of the tenon ring 22 with the clarinet body section or upper joint 12. An assembling tool 54 is provided which has a frusto-conical shape 56 leading to a cylindrical section 58. A cylindrical projection 60 of reduced diameter is received within the bore 26 of the clarinet body section, forming a sufficiently snug fit for ready alignment, yet a loose enough fit for ready insertion and withdrawal. The cylindrical section 58 of the installation tool is of the same diameter as the reduced diameter portion 48 of the clarinet body.

The tool is abutted against the end of the clarinet body with the projection 60 received in the bore, and the tenon ring 22 is pushed (to the left in FIGS. 7 and 8) over the frusto-conical section 56 of the tool 54 to compress or distend the retaining clip 38 completely within the groove 34, continued axial movement of the ring 22 moving it over the cylindrical section 58 and onto the reduced diameter body portion 48, where the chordal portions and inwardly turned tips of the ring snap into the groove 50, the parts then being in the position of FIG. 8, at which time the tool 54 is readily withdrawn.

It will be recognized that the tool 54 is intended primarily for hand operation, and this is the procedure that would be followed in limited volume production. Obviously, for high volume production an assembly machine would be provided that would automatically insert a tool into the bore of a clarinet section, and would then automatically move a tenon ring over the tool onto installed position on the clarinet section.

As will now be seen the tenon ring will not come off or loosen in position even upon shrinkage of the wood, as contrasted with conventional tenon rings which will loosen upon shrinking of the wood. Therefore, the tenon ring does a better job of preventing the female portion of a joint from cracking than is possible with a conventional tenon ring. Furthermore, the assembly of the tenon ring with the clarinet is greatly facilitated, thereby reducing production costs, and holding down the cost of the instrument to the ultimate purchaser.

The specific example of the invention as herein shown and described is for illustrative purposes only. Various changes in structure will no doubt occur to those skilled in the artand will be understood as forming a part of the present invention insofar as they fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A tenon ring assembly for use with musical woodwind instruments comprising, a musical woodwind instrument having an outwardly annular groove, an annular tenon ring, an inwardly opening annular groove in said ring, and a spring retaining clip in said grooves, said retaining clip being of polygonal configuration having comers received in said ring groove and having intermediate sections extending out of said ring groove and being received in said instrument groove.

2. A tenon ring assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said intermediate sections comprise chordal sections.

3. A tenon ring assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring clip has substantially confronting end portions with inwardly directed tips extending out of said groove and inwardly of said ring.

4. A tenon ring assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring clip has substantially confronting end portions with inwardly directed tips extending out of said ring groove and inwardly of said ring.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the tenon ring groove diverges inwardly and the instrument groove diverges outwardly. 

1. A tenon ring assembly for use with musical woodwind instruments comprising, a musical woodwind instrument having an outwardly annular groove, an annular tenon ring, an inwardly opening annular groove in said ring, and a spring retaining clip in said grooves, said retaining clip being of polygonal configuration having corners received in said ring groove and having intermediate sections extending out of said ring groove and being received in said instrument groove.
 2. A tenon ring assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said intermediate sections comprise chordal sections.
 3. A tenon ring assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring clip has substantially confronting end portions with inwardly directed tips extending out of said groove and inwardly of said ring.
 4. A tenon ring assemblY as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spring clip has substantially confronting end portions with inwardly directed tips extending out of said ring groove and inwardly of said ring.
 5. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the tenon ring groove diverges inwardly and the instrument groove diverges outwardly. 